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Many, if not most statistical methods were developed for relatively small datasets. Big Data means we need to reevaluate how we interpret results. A good examples comes from “the Facebook experiment” Emotional contagion through social networks Adam D. I. Kramer, Jamie...

I think the Lego Gradstudent is brilliant! Very dark humour, but ohh so funny, especially if and when you feel a little down during your PhD journey. The creator made a video about the "impostor syndrome", that many experience at times. To watch it: I recently read an...

There are ohh-so many ways to mess up when conducting research, leading either intentionally or unintentionally, to false results. Open science, where every effort is made to allow others to check your work (put very simply) is on the rise. Here is a great article on...

Academic research is contingent on building on past findings, much published in academic journals. While researchers get nothing from the journals when they submit their work (indeed, some pay for the privilege to get published), it can cost a fortune to access the...

My second peer-reviewed publication, this time on Eysenck's body of research, where we both look at how it evolved, and how central the articles deemed as "unsafe" by his own college, is to the rest of his work. We also note how he continually renewed the pool of...

While most make models in Word or Powerpoint, there are other alternatives, that can also be used with R. One such, is DAGitty, (and related packages). You can make the diagrams in a browser window, and export the R code. The diagrams can be exported in most high...

There are many - very many - styles in academia. At times, it seems every journal has their own style, which differs just a little from others; seemingly with the intent to frustrate a submitting author (or to act as a last-ditch attempt to stop those who just submit...

The term "Publish or perish" is well known, and in part comes from seeing that those who publish more, tend to receive more as well. Volume counts. This skews incentives, leading to shortcuts and outright fraud. Will this ever change? In a recent article on one such...

Bibliometric analysis is taking off, fueled by increasingly easy to use software. While R can have a daunting learning curve, there are some great packages available for those interested. One is Bibliometrix. The command line side of it offers some great flexibility...

My first publication in a peer reviewed journal is now online 🙂 The last version of the manuscript, before final submission can be downloaded here; Mapping the expatriate literature: a bibliometric review of the...

The requirements to get a job in academia, change depending on the stage of ones career. This article sums up what is commonly required at the different stages. I found it interesting that there is no mention of teaching, though this may be because in the USA, one is...

An increasing number of journals encourage researchers to share their data, for a variety of reasons. In years past, it was common to have to write to the authors asking for access or supplementary statistics; making your data available, ensures more have access to...

Presenting research visually can greatly help people grasp complex ideas. Creating the visuals can take a lot of effort and creativity, it is a shame when the finished product is consequently compressed when published or shown; as is the case for most network maps....

https://mattiheino.com/2019/07/28/shitty-tables/?fbclid=IwAR3n1z8VoNJ5pHPM-RDYFEp2v_TsWE1vB2enlu_uEFfPlje85zRWIAKNZeU More to follow https://serialmentor.com/dataviz/visualizing-uncertainty.html#frequency-framing https://www.data-to-viz.com/

I love a good graphic, one that communicates a lot of information. They may not be quick to look at, but communicates a lot in an intuitive way. A recent editorial (2018) in AMJ indicates it is seen as a positive there. I recommend reading the editorial: FROM THE...

While most instruments have a clear scale, some do not actually give the full range of wording. In cases when you want to modify a scale somewhat, it can be even more tricky. Rather than work out wordings, I found a useful PDF, written by Sorrel Brown at Iowa State...

I was just berated in an article review: "a bibliography is NOT a reference list!". I will admit that up to now, I have used the two terms interchangeably, and have tended to use the term "bibliography", as I like the sound of the word better, than the more pedestrian...

One of the first things taught in statistics, is that correlation does not imply causation. Indeed, to say something about causation, one basically needs experimental or quasi-experimental design. Unfortunately, this can be difficult, or impossible in many contexts....